(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioners in Beijing’s Huairou District are being harassed after they file lawsuits against Jiang Zemin, former Chinese Communist Party leader who initiated the persecution of Falun Gong in 1999.

Headed by Peng Lixia, deputy district mayor and head of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee, Huairou’s 610 Office at different levels, police departments and branches, and residential administration offices have been going to the homes of practitioners.

They attempted to coerce practitioners to sign compromising statements and threatened to send them to brainwashing or detention centers, as ordered by the Beijing Municipal government.

After Peng Lixia assumed her position early this year and announced her plan to crack down on Falun Gong in a TV appearance, several dozen practitioners in the Huairou area were arrested, detained, and sent to brainwashing centers. Over 100 practitioners were harassed and intimidated at home. Now, more practitioners are being arrested and sent to brainwashing centers.

In Jiuduhe Town in the Huairou District, most of the practitioners were repeatedly harassed. The Jiuduhe Town 610 Office director Chen Huaiqing then went door to door to the homes of practitioners, pressuring them to sign a prepared statement.

Ms. Zhou Fengqin, her son Wang Weidong, Mr. Sun Fuhua, Ms. Li Wenqin, and a few others in Huanghuazhen Village became the latest victims of police harassment. Chen Huaiqing and local police went to their homes to collect “repentance signatures.” The practitioners and their families were threatened with persecution if they refused to sign.

After signing his name under duress, Mr. Wang Weidong realized he had made a mistake. He called 610 Office director Chen Huaiqing to retrieve the paper bearing his signature. 

In the phone call, Mr. Wang told Chen it was his constitutional right to sue Jiang Zemin. He demanded that Chen return the paper to him. Mr. Wang also told Chen that he would do everything to get the paper back, including filing a lawsuit with the Supreme Procuratorate and visiting Chen’s home. “I am not afraid of you,” said Mr. Wang.

Chen Huaiqing told Mr. Wang to come to his office to collect the paper. After Mr. Wang arrived at the 610 Office, he did not see Chen. After a phone call to Chen’s cell phone, Chen finally came out with the paper. Chen nervously told Mr. Wang to calm down. This is in sharp contrast to the authorities' behavior in the past.